Imelda Staunton

Born Jan. 9, 1956, in London, Imelda Staunton graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her long list of accolades includes many awards for her theatre work (1985 London Critics Circle Award, 1986 and 1991 Laurence Olivier Theatre Awards).

Staunton made her major TV debut in the BBC's famed miniseries "The Singing Detective" in 1986, and made her film bow the next year with Comrades. Long a familiar face to U.K. TV and film fans, she became known in the United States primarily for her work in the movies of Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson (Much Ado About Nothing, Peter's Friends, Sense and Sensibility) and the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love.

For her breakthrough performance in the title role of Mike Leigh's Vera Drake, Staunton won the Coppa Volpi award at the 2004 Venice Film Festival and earned Oscar, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations for Best Actress.

Filmography